Sudanese army launches major offensive to retake RSF-held areas in capital Khartoum

US announces $424 million in aid for hungry and displaced Sudanese

Plumes of smoke rise over Khartoum during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army. Reuters

Sudan's army on Thursday launched a major offensive to retake areas in the capital Khartoum held by the Rapid Support Forces since the early days of the 17-month-old civil war, according to witnesses and sources.

The offensive began hours after UN Secretary General António Guterres voiced alarm over the “escalation of the conflict” in Sudan during a meeting in New York with army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan late on Wednesday. Gen Al Burhan was due to address the UN General Assembly later on Thursday.

In Khartoum, the army launched artillery and air strikes targeting RSF positions across much of the city. There were also clashes on the ground as troops attempted to cross bridges on the Nile that connect the three adjoining cities – Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri – that make up the capital's greater area, said the witnesses.

“The Secretary General expressed deep concern about the escalation of the conflict in Sudan, which continues to have a devastating impact on Sudanese civilians and risks a regional spillover,” Mr Guterres told Gen Al Burhan, according to a readout of their meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders and top officials at the UN General Assembly in New York.

“They discussed the need for an immediate lasting ceasefire and the importance of genuine dialogue leading to an inclusive negotiated peace settlement.”

Most of the capital has been in the hands of the RSF since the war's early days, with the powerful paramilitary capturing the presidential palace, the international airport and several important army barracks and military production sites.

The RSF also controls most of the western region of Darfur, parts of Kordofan to the south as well as large areas south of the capital in the agriculturally rich regions of Al Jazira and Sinnar.

The army retook some ground in Omdurman early this year after days of heavy clashes, but it has not been involved in any major military operations in the capital since.

The National reported last week that Sudan's army was preparing troops, arms and military hardware for a possible major offensive to regain control of areas across the country held by the RSF before the end of the rainy season next month.

Heavy rain and muddied or washed out roads would significantly hinder the RSF's fighting vehicles – its primary weapon – and enable the army's warplanes to play a more effective role on the battlefield, analysts said at the time.

Thursday's fighting, which began shortly after dawn, rocked the capital and sent columns of dark smoke shooting skyward. Video clips shared on social media purported to show troops and armed civilians celebrating as the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions rang out in the background.

Some of the troops danced to patriotic music blaring out of large speakers while others flashed the V for victory sign. One clip showed an army tank firing and following up with a burst of bullets from a heavy machine-gun perched on top.

The witnesses said the city woke up in the morning to the sound of heavy explosions, gunfire and the buzz of low-flying aircraft shortly before sunrise. They said the fighting died down shortly before noon, a time when temperatures rose to 39 degree Celsius.

A military source told AFP that the army was “waging fierce fighting against the rebel militia [RSF] inside Khartoum”. The source, who shared the information on condition of anonymity, said army forces have crossed three key bridges over the Nile, but did not specify which ones.

By late afternoon, video clips circulating on social media showed RSF fighters claiming they had repelled the army attack and that all Nile bridges in the capital remain under their control.

The videos posted showed that locations where the fighting took place on Thursday included Al Mugran, a semi-rural district where the White and Blue Niles meet before they journey north together through the remainder of northern Sudan and the entire length of Egypt.

Fighting also took place in Al Souq Al Araby in central Khartoum as well as the Gabrah district in the southern part of the city, according to the videos.

The war in Sudan broke out in April last year when months of tension between the army and the RSF over their mandate and role in a hoped-for democratic Sudan boiled over. The war has killed around 14,000 people, according to the UN, which acknowledges that the actual death toll is likely to be much higher.

The conflict has also created a massive humanitarian crisis, with seven million people fleeing their homes, including more than two million who have crossed the border to seek refuge in neighbouring nations. Those who fled their homes joined three million who were displaced during previous bouts of conflict in the vast Afro-Arab nation.

The war has also left around 25 million people – more than half the population – facing acute hunger. Famine was declared in a camp for the displaced in Darfur and the UN says more than 10 other locations across the country could be next.

Both the army and the RSF, led by Gen Mohamed Dagalo, are suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the course of the continuing war. Diplomatic efforts by the US and other powers have to date failed to end the war, with the army rejecting several invitations to attend peace talks, including those held in Switzerland last month.

The US on Wednesday announced $424 million in aid for displaced Sudanese and those facing acute hunger. “As we sit here today, more than 25 million Sudanese face acute hunger. Many are in famine, some reduced to eating leaves and dirt to stave off hunger pangs – but not starvation,” said the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

“This humanitarian catastrophe is a man-made one – brought on by a senseless war that has wrought unspeakable violence and by heartless blockades of food, water and medicine for those made victims of it,” she said. “The rape and torture, ethnic cleansing, weaponisation of hunger – it is utterly unconscionable.”

She also appealed for aid to be allowed into the embattled city of El Fasher, where fighting between the two rival parties has forced tens of thousands to flee and seek refuge in the famine-stricken Zamzam camp near the city.

“People in Sudan have endured 17 months of hell, and the suffering continues to grow,” the UN's top relief official Joyce Msuya said.

The US, the EU, Germany and France issued a joint statement after a ministerial meeting on Sudan. It appealed for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations while also expressing concern over the “rapidly deteriorating situation” in the country.

“It was deemed essential that the warring parties adhere to their commitments made in Jeddah, Geneva, and subsequent negotiations,” the statement said, while also calling on foreign countries to “refrain from providing military support to the warring parties”.

In his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden also called for an end to the fighting.